Review: Callington Mill’s Leap of Faith Series

Luke McCarthy -
Whisky Reviews
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On tasting: Callington Mill Leap of Faith Series single malt whiskies: Symmetry, Apera Fusion, Audacity and Tango

The Callington Mill story is pretty dense, and if you’re not familiar with it, I’d recommend reading our in-depth profile for some background.

The eight bottlings in the Leap of Faith Series is a sort of preview of what to expect when Callington Mill’s own spirit is eventually ready for bottling. I didn’t quite fancy going through all eight whiskies, so I asked cellar door manager Josh Stewart to select four from the series that best represent where Callington might be heading.

The four malts reviewed here were all distilled at Old Kempton Distillery. Two other bottlings in the Leap of Faith Series were originally triple distilled at Shene Distillery, but seeing as Callington will be double distilled, the Old Kempton bottlings are closer to what you might expect moving forward.

The ‘singleness’ of Tasmanian single malt is a hot subject at the moment. For instance, by the time Callington Mill’s own spirit is eventually released, whisky produced at Shene, Old Kempton and Callington’s prototype Glenorchy distillery will have already been released under a Callington Mill label.

It makes it a little tricky for the average punter to decipher what’s going on. And the challenge moving forward will be properly defining the Callington spirit profile, especially when the influence of some high quality casks is quite forward in these bottlings so far.

From what I’ve seen of the Callington bond store, expect similar ideas and methods to Shene and Old Kempton in terms of maturation style. Initial maturation in 20 and 100 litre casks will be common, with some finishing in larger format 300 litre and 500 litre casks, although the distilling team says they’re looking to move to solely to larger format (100 litre+) in future.

 

  • Callington Mill Symmetry Leap of Faith Series Single Malt Whisky
    The Stats
    • ABV: 46%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled at Old Kempton Distillery and matured in 100 litre tawny and apera casks. Bottled for the Leap of Faith Series, first released in late 2021.
    • Location: Kempton, TAS
    • Score: 87
    Nose
    Subdued but fruity to start. Vanillin and floral, with pears, banana and toffee. A hint of earthy mustiness and wine from the casks, and a pleasant a barnyard maltiness.
    Palate
    Spritely, malt forward opening, otherwise, palate follows the nose. Plenty of fudge, caramel and fruit, and that cereal malt, almost hay element, comes through on the mid-palate. Not as much cask influence as expected, which I like.
    Finish
    The caramel fudge carries, but that nice savouriness keeps driving through.
    Comments
    Very solid this, very well constructed. Malt forward and the wood and wine influence has been held in check here despite the smaller cask maturation. It's basically the entry level bottling in the range: $120 for 700ml, which would make it one of the most affordable Tassie malts currently on the market. On balance, Symmetry is my pick of the bunch.
  • Callington Mill Apera Fusion Leap of Faith Series Single Malt Whisky
    The Stats
    • ABV: 46%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled at Old Kempton Distillery and initially matured in 20 litre apera casks and then further matured in 300 and 500 litre apera casks from the Barossa Valley.
    • Location: Kempton, TAS
    • Score: 82
    Nose
    Woodier than the Symmetry. Leather, pepper and sweet spice. Manuka honey, caramel, cinnamon. Some peachy fruits underneath, dark berries and forest floor.
    Palate
    Buttery, with caramel popcorn and more of that spice. The apera adds bite, coming on with fruit cake and cloves. A bit too much oak and dryness as it progresses.
    Finish
    That dry oakiness persists, but there's some pleasant maltiness to help things along.
    Comments
    The nose had a lot going for it, but on the palate, the cask treatment started to dominate a little for me, and turned things a bit too dry and cask-driven. One for the apera fans though.
  • Callington Mill Audacity Leap of Faith Series Single Malt Whisky
    The Stats
    • ABV: 65.8%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled at Old Kempton Distillery and initially matured in 20 litre tawny and apera casks before being married together and then finished in white fortified wine casks from the Rutherglen wine region.
    • Location: Oatlands, TAS
    • Score: 79
    Nose
    The heavy oak you sense is coming from the colour (mahogany) is, well, right there. Cherries, sultanas, chocolate fondue and marmalade. With water, wine must, treacle and brown sugar. Complex nose.
    Palate
    Phoah... big. Clobbers you with waves of treacle and concentrated oak and wine. Hugely flavourful, but boy it gets dry and tannic as it progresses at this abv. With water (and it can take a lot of water), you get hints of the Rutherglen fortified character trying to poke through, but the tawny and apera dominate.
    Finish
    Somewhat molten neat. With water, dry and winey.
    Comments
    The nose promises plenty here. But if you like giving your palate a beating, then go at this neat. Personally, I don't see how bottling at this strength does anything for the whisky, but I guess it appeals to some. Water opened up some of the fruit and raisny richness, but overall, too wood-driven for me, and the extra finish hasn't quite brought it together.
  • Callington Mill Tango Leap of Faith Series Single Malt Whisky
    The Stats
    • ABV: 66.8%
    • Price Band: $ $ $ $ $
    • Style: Single malt whisky
    • Production Story: Distilled at Old Kempton Distillery and initially matured in 20 litre tawny casks and then finished in 300 litre ex-Cognac and Australian brandy casks.
    • Location: Oatlands, TAS
    • Score: 80
    Nose
    Raspberry, stewed rhubarb and burnt toffee. Old furniture in your grandparents house, cola, nutmeg and wood shavings.
    Palate
    Crikey there's some heat here. Once you get past that, the tawny emerges, and some of those antique furniture and tart fruit characters become discernible. It's a different whisky with water (and I added a lot). Becomes savory, almost tart, but the sweetness from the tawny holds up.
    Finish
    The brandy casks come to the fore, old library books and clovey French oak notes.
    Comments
    There's a whole lot going here, and when you dig down into it, some of the musty fruitiness added by the cognac and brandy casks is enthralling. Clearly there are high quality casks at work here, but I'd just like to see a bit less of those casks and more of the spirit.
How We Score
Luke McCarthy
Luke McCarthy is the editor and publisher of Oz Whisky Review. An independent writer, author and drinks columnist, Luke's written about whisky and spirits for numerous Australian and international publications and is a judge at the Australian Distilled Spirits Awards. His book, The Australian Spirits Guide, the first to tackle the history and resurgence of the Australian spirits industry, was published in 2016 by Hardie Grant Books.